Academic writing - Sample 2

This essay was written by an applied linguistics student whose name we will not
disclose so as to respect their privacy. However, we acknowledge their authorship.

This is an example of an essay that did not get a passing grade.

When you access the commented copy, you will see the comments on the right
analyse key items to pay attention to when writing, which are in line with the SLA
assignment guidelines.

Basically, one of the main problems is that the relevant items are not actually
developed in the essay but are simply mentioned. The other relates to the theoretical
support: many claims are not quoted, so they read as opinion (which is not valid as
evidence) or plain plagiarism.

The highlighted segments contain language problems.

INPUT VERSUS OUTPUT

Why do people decide to study a second language? For many reasons such
as labor issues, inmigration to another country where the language is different, as a
hobby, as part of the academic curricula and others. All of these varied language
acquisition contexts have components in common, input and output. Input, the
language which a learner is exposed to. Output the final component of the process of
language acquisition. What is more, input is also determined by situational factors
and by learner differences. On the other hand, output is determined by input itself. In
this current essay, these factors will be explained taking into account real
experiences in instructed settings like classrooms and the experience as a teacher of
a foreign language.

To start with, input is of vital importance in SLA since without input it would be
almost impossible to acquire any language including L1. According to Susan M.Gass
and Alison Mackey (2015:181), “input provides the crucial evidence from which
learners can form linguistic hypotheses”. As it was said previously, Input is
determined by external and internal elements. External element is the context in
which a communicative situation takes place. It is not the same, the type of exposure
to language generated in the classroom with the input generated in a caffe with
friends. Bearing in mind the opinions of students of the institute of English located in
Salta, naturalistic settings tend to
give students more reliance on demanding more input. Th

e disadvantage of this type of input is that it is not controlled and checked in terms of
grammar, content etc. Oppositely,, the most outstanding advantage is that students
do not feel stressed, on the contrary, they feel confident and they can process more
input.

Following with the internal factors that conditionate input, it is of great

importance to highlight that not all exposed input is processed by the students, it
varies according to students' differences. One of these differences is motivation, it is
difficult to generalize since each student decides what, in how much time and how to
learn something. Another difference is learning styles. It is known that thousands of
ways of learning exist like auditories, visuals, kinaesthetics, tactiles etc. Lastly,
personality is another principal difference. Extroverted learners will do better in
acquiring basic interpersonal communication skills mainly by obtaining more input
.Considering the countless variety of purposes, aptitudes, intelligences, motivations,
ages, personalities that can be appreciated in a classroom, we as teachers should
plan our classes taking into account the items mentioned earlier. For example, in the
institute of English learners are more interested in knowing a distinct culture than in
learning grammar, vocabulary, pronology, etc.so they do activities whose main focus
is on the culture but at the same time and in an implicit way they are supporting the
target language.
On the other hand, output can be taken as the external manifestation of a
learner's interlanguage. Output is the final process of the second language
acquisition since through this students can manifestate what they know about the
target language and also one of the foremost functions of output is to allow learners
to get more input. Output is strongly conditioned by input due to the fact that learners
decide what input information they are going to process and consecutively what
output will be generated. This decision is taken into account according to students’
motivation, learning styles, personalities and aptitudes. For example, as it was said
before students in the institute are fond of culture so the input internalized by them is
that which has to do with culture and the output is knowledge and questions about
culture.

Automaticity is another function of output . In chapter 10 Susan M.Gass and

Alison Mackey (2015) state a metaphor when they say that the purpose of output is
to create a routinization of language use as well as the automatic processes like
driving home from work and vice versa which people do without effort and much
concentration. But how can teachers achieve this purpose? Only with practise and
generating a warm class environment,students should talk in each opportunity they
can and also students should not have time to plan their productions because they
feel stressed, unconfident and pessimistic about their output. Instead, when there is
no time to plan responses they are not concentrated in grammar and vocabulary so
the vernacular style is taking place.

In conclusion, input and output are two indispensable components of the

acquisition of any language. Through input we can internalize not only grammatical
rules, vocabulary, sounds patterns but also content or information about anything.
Through input we as persons know what we know since input can be spoken,
textual,and even perceived by senses. It is convenient to say that input depends on
its majority of internal factors of the person. On the other side of the coin, we have
output which is the opposite of input. Output is an individual and a personal process
while input is a social one because it is always given by something or someone.
Taking into consideration input and output from the point of view of second language
acquisition, it seems that both input and output are stages a student must go through
to reach acquisition.

Bibliography
Susan M.Gass and Alison Mackey (2015) Input, interaction and output in second
language acquisition . Theories in second language acquisition.
Lightbown, P. and N. Spada (1993) How languages are Learned. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.

Ellis, R. (1994) The Study of SLA. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Dörnyei, Z. and P. Skehan (2005) “Individual Differences in Second Language

Learning” in Doughty, C. and M. Long, eds. (2005) The Handbook of Second
Language Acquisition. Blackwell Reference Online: Blackwell Publishing. pp
442-471.

Krashen, S. (1982) Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition. Internet

edition downloaded September 1st, 2011 from
dkrashen.com/Principles_and_Practice.pdf